“Is it arrogant to say me?” she replied. “Yeah, I thought so. Alessia Brio and Will Belegon write fantastic erotica together and apart; I have always been a fan of Elliot Mabeuse and have recently discovered what an awesome author Portia Da Costa is.”

Victoria told me that, when she’s writing, if the story is something that interests and arouses her, then she knows it’s good. “I use this rule of thumb because it’s how I’ve always written,” she explained, “even back when I was an amateur and it has proven time and again to be a good indication of if the story will be popular with readers and/or picked up by a publisher.

“I think strong characters and an interesting plot are integral to any good story and especially so in erotica. Sex scene after sex scene simply does not make an erotic book; it has to have more complexity than that.”

She said she believes people think erotica is easy to write—that it is just authors’ fantasies put down on paper.

“It is a lot more than that. Okay, many stories may have a basis in the authors fantasies but a lot of work then goes into developing the characters and the stories around those.

“Like with Scentsual. The story is based in Scarborough, one of my favourite places and contains some of my favourite BDSM kinks but I had to develop the characters and the plot so it was not just me writing out my fantasies.

“There also seems to be this idea around that erotica is just there to help get a person off and whereas that is obviously part of it, it is not the be all and end all of an erotic story. There is much more to a good erotic story than that just like in any other genre of writing in fact.”Her favorite erotic book is not, strictly speaking, one book, but the Black Lace Wicked Words series of books.

“I love to read short stories when it comes to erotic fiction and the Wicked Words stories always seem to hit the mark, so to speak!” she said.

Although she loves to write, she reluctantly does research, claiming “I suck at the research side of things and it’s why you never see historical erotica form me even though I like the idea of giving it a try.” She’s always enjoyed historical romances, but she doesn’t know where to start when researching for it. Her research tends to be limited to quick online searches for specific facts or real life experience.

“It’s awesome when you can call having sex your ‘research’ and a great reason to break from writing,” she admitted. “After all, it’s only going to make my story stronger in the long run if I research it more thoroughly.”

One reason Victoria writes erotic romance as opposed to erotica or porn is because she’s a self-admitted sucker for a happily ever after, or at least a happily for now ending.

“I love to have a love story with my sex scenes,” she told me. “I found parts of Masquerading Hearts hard to write because they were sex scenes between two people without a love connection but even Masquerading Hearts, a book about revenge, ends up being a love story.”

When Victoria was a teen, she wrote a lot of poetry. As a matter of fact, she still does and some of it can be found in Phaze in Verse. She would also write little romance stories containing the latest object of her affection.

One day, though, she had an erotic dream that wouldn’t go away until she wrote it down on paper. Her husband encouraged her to submit it to a free online story site (literotica).

“Once I started getting feedback on my work I became addicted to it,” she said. “Then after a few years I saw a call for submissions posted by a fellow author and decided to submit one of my stories for that. It was accepted by Phaze and I haven’t looked back since. I feel almost embarrassed by how easy I found it to be published, I feel like I missed out on half of the experience from not getting a pile of rejections first but I am very happy to have found my way into e-books and into print and now I do feel like I can call myself an author as I write primarily to send new stories to my publishers.”

When she is forced to write non-erotic romance, she finds it very difficult not to write sex. “My mind just seems to be wired that way,” she told me. “I do love kisses though and when you’re writing romance you really have to give kisses a special oomph. But, I just want to write out the sexy bits. I think they tell you so much about the characters and their relationship that you can’t express as easily any way else.”

“What does your family think of your writing?” I asked. “Do they read it?”

“My family knows that I write, they know what I write but that’s it and really I’m quite thankful for that. I don’t want my mum reading my erotica thanks. It’s weird enough that my mother-in-law and her sister have copies of Curvaceous. I just hope they are getting dusty lying on bookshelves somewhere!”

On a personal note, Victoria shared with me that she doesn’t have anything pierced except her ears…and that’s only because earrings are so pretty. She believes that part of the sexual appeal of body piercing is the pain, submitting to that pain, and the mark that it leaves.

A non-painful erotic pleasure is eating chocolate off somebody’s body part. “Of course, chocolate is suitable to eat anytime, anywhere, and off any body part,” she admitted. “Squishy fruits work well too like peaches in the summer. Chasing the sweet juices around the nooks and crannies of a man’s body is always fun. And I am always happy to be the platter, too!”

Victoria said it was almost impossible to pick just one favorite food, however. “I love a good stew made with beef and chunky vegetables. I adore parsnips, to the point I choose a roasted parsnip over a bar of chocolate, and I love pavlova. Not just because of the crunchy meringue contrasting with the rich cream and the tart raspberries but because of the memories it holds. I baked a pavlova for my husband on the day he proposed to me. So I don’t think I could ever pick one out and out favourite but if you forced me into doing so, I’d probably go with pavlova. “

On the other hand, she can’t bring herself to eat hot custard. She can just about stand it when it’s cold in a trifle, but hot? “I hate it. The flavour, the texture and the heat just do not appeal to me at all,” she said. “And it’s not a food but I cannot drink tea, which is funny for an English Lady I know, but there you go!”

“What is your favorite letter?” I asked.

“One that isn’t a bill?” she said. “Oh, did you not mean that kind of letter? Okay, well then I think I love all the letters equally, without them I wouldn’t be able to write my erotica or read all my favourite books.”

When Victoria’s not writing, she would love to say that she would be cooking because she enjoys it, but she told me, “It would probably be editing or cleaning the damn house. I swear extra people live in this house and muck it up when I’m not looking. Three people cannot make the amount of mess I have to clean up, surely!”

I asked her about her strangest habit and Victoria said, “I think my habits are equally strange, but maybe we could call them quirks instead?”

One of her “quirks” is that she straightens pictures when they are hung on a slant—even if she’s not in her own home. She also dunks chips (fries) in mayonnaise, but doesn’t everyone do that? Also, she writes millions of lists when planning to go on holiday and she enjoys the packing almost as much as the vacation itself.

The Last Prejudice

White Water

The Atomic City Girls

Heaven’s Watcher

My Favorite Mistake

Taking Desire

Needing Desire

Running Hot

Frost Moon

Blue Light Special

Review Star Rating Definitions

1 Star – We currently do not review any story with a 1 star rating. If it’s DNF or a “wall-banger” we decline to review.

2 Stars — Not wonderful, but tolerable. There may be some minor editing glitches but not enough to stop you reading. Not a wall-banger, but nothing you’d re-read. This is a book you would borrow from the library – not buy- and never check out again. You might recommend it to a friend with a mention of the glitches, knowing that something in the plot or story would still appeal to them regardless.

3 Stars — Good. Mostly enjoyable. You made it through and didn’t consider it a waste of time or money. The story was strong enough or the conflict tight enough, so even when the book faltered, it was able to draw you back in and keep you. There’s a chance you’ll recommend it to a friend, but it wouldn’t go on your keeper shelf.

4 Stars — Very Good. You’re glad you were the one who got to review the book. You would probably buy it and would definitely recommend it to your friends. You liked the characters and the plot. The writing style was good and the editing clean.

5 Stars — Great! You would definitely buy this book. You would definitely recommend it to your friends. You really loved the characters and the plot and would consider looking for this authors back list or making her an autobuy. The writing and editing were superb.

LASR Best Book – For a book or story that is truly exceptional. You think about it when you’re not reading it. You wonder what happens to the characters when you finish. You would absolutely buy everything else this author had to offer. The highest praise – and reserved for only a few.

Review Heat Level Descriptions

SWEET: no visual love scenes and no descriptive kissing;

SENSUAL: Contains a high degree of sexual tension, steamy kisses and passionate clinches, but all fully consummated love scenes will be implied, not described, and with the bedroom door firmly closed.

SPICY: Contains actual love scenes and may include detailed descriptions of foreplay and consummation.

HOT: Contains sizzling and very detailed love scenes throughout and graphic, explicit content which may be offensive to some.

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FTC Disclaimer:

Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. On occasion, we review books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.